Georgian Ministers reflect on Russia-Georgia conflict

Members of the Georgian Government spent most of the day paying tribute to the heroes who lost their lives in the Russia-Georgia war in 2008.

Today marked the sixth anniversary of the war, in which more than 300 Georgians died.

Today at Mukhatgverdi Cemetery in Tbilisi, many of the country’s ministers reflected on the tragedy and laid wreaths on heroes’ graves.

State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Paata Zakareishvili expressed his condolences to the families of the heroes and the whole country.

"Our major task is to avoid this type of sacrifice in the future because we need our heroes to live,” Zakareishvili told journalists.

"Also it is important not to approach the war anymore and the Tagliavini report as well as the investigation ongoing in the country,” Zakareishvili said.

He added the Government should find out everything it could regarding the war in order for society to know who was responsible for the tragedy, as well as the "anti-heroes who supported that Georgia was involved in the provocation”.

"I do not think this case should be moved on to international level,” Zakareishvili said.

Minister of Finance Nodar Khaduri said six years on from the war, August 8 continued to be a sombre day in Georgia’s history.

"Even if 600 years pass … these boys and their heroism will not be forgotten,” he said.

"Obviously all questions have to be answered but I am sure that the blood of our heroes was not spilled in vain. We will return our brothers and restore Georgia’s territorial integrity,” Khaduri said.

Georgia’s newly-appointed Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance, Giorgi Mgebrishvili, said the heroism of those who died during the war had to change the country for the better. He said those who died fell in an "unequal battle”.

Another newly-appointed official, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Davit Shavliashvili said he was sure the way the Georgian Government aimed to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict would have positive outcomes.

Agricultural Minister Otar Danelia commented to media about the war and what impact it had. He said the Government had to do its best to ensure peace in the country and the region.

"It is sad that avoidance of the conflict could not be managed. The Government has to try its best to avoid this kind of armed conflict,” Danelia said.

Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani also visited the cemetery today to pay tribute to the war heroes. There she said Georgia would continue its plight until the country was de-occupied.

"We will do everything for peaceful unification of the country. As for the families of our fallen heroes, many of them still do not have the body of their family member, which is an even greater tragedy. The process of bodies’ identification continues,” Tsulukiani said.

She published a blog recalling August 8, 2008, from her experience in Strasburg where she lived at that time and worked at the European Court of Human Rights.

She wrote on the morning of August 8, she had a meeting with a court official and discussed a case.

"Tell me, he said and I understand that instead of speaking about the … case he waited for me to say something else since the previous night was full of horrifying news for all of us,” she wrote.

"I looked at him with eyes full of questions and did not say anything. He continued: "I was listening to the radio in the car. What happened with him?” We had a long conversation. He said to stay strong. Those horrifying days have passed,” Tsulukiani wrote.

Her blog post continued with an explanation of events that happened on August 11, as she made her way home that evening.

"The phone rings on the way. I stop the car and answer the call. The Ministry of Justice is on the other end,” she wrote.

"We have got an order to evacuate buildings and tanks are on the horizon near Tbilisi. Please be informed that on a particular day at a particular time I file a complaint against Russia and on behalf of the state, [it was] demand an "interim measure” that Russia suspend hostilities,” Tsulukiani remembered.

She asked the Ministry to send her all documentation that was ready to be used to file a complaint, returned to the court which was already empty. She remembered entering the room of the official she spoke with on the first day of the conflict and as she looked at photos of Gori wrapped up in flames, she knew how serious the conflict was.

Her blog continued telling the story of her discussion of the Strasbourg Court case, which was attended by another lawyer – a neutral person not Georgian or Russian, since impartiality was a must.

The case was discussed and both the complainant and the defendant were ordered to refrain from murder.

"This decision was a historic one for the Strasbourg Court and relevant to its high reputation,” Tsulukiani wrote at the end of her blog which was devoted to recounting the five day war that shocked Georgia and the whole world on August 8, 2008.